The life of Alexis
by Disaster-heavy-on-the-DIS
Summary: The Doctor told me to write this. He told me that it should help me keep everything straight in my head and make sense of everything. So here goes…
1. Prologue

Here you go. New story. I don't own Doctor Who.

Please review. I want to know what you think.

Ward 6, Knightsbridge Hospital London, 2/10/1999

I only start here because it seemed fitting to start at the beginning and work from there. So… Here we are. Mum says I screamed for hours after being born. She claims I protested to my own birth like a teenager protests to being woken up early.

From the moment I was born, my father was absent. He wasn't at my birth and when he got the call he hung up and ordered another drink from the bar he was in. My mum didn't mind. She's always been strong like that and, with me bawling in her arms, she didn't have time to deal with her boyfriend. I was her biggest concern and I have been since. Her unemployed boyfriend who spent his time hanging out in bars was not someone she wanted around any longer. He's my father but his name has never touched my birth certificate.

My mum said that I was the cutest baby most of the doctors had ever seen. They took their breaks trying to get a good look at me as I screamed and whined. I became an instant celebrity. Half the people in the hospital wanted to see what was causing such a noise and the other half wanted to catch a glimpse of the cutest baby in the hospital that day. I was the right size and had a mess of curling black hair. My eyes were green and generally wet with tears. I was slightly on the chubby side, my mum always takes great joy in telling me, with big cheeks that made me look slightly like a hamster. I didn't have any control of my limbs and flailed them about randomly, flicking out at my mum.

"Wonder what's got her so upset." each doctor who came to see me mused.

To them I was a perfectly happy and healthy baby. I could hear better than most babies they had dealt with. I was active and squirming. I had the strongest set of lungs they had seen on a baby. However, I wouldn't stop crying.

None of the doctors really stayed long after hearing me scream. I was a loud baby so each made their excuses about other patients or it being the end of their break. My mother just smiled as they went. She was happy to be left alone with me, her little baby girl. She hoped the quiet would help me to calm down.

It didn't.

"You need to quieten down." my mother cooed, cradling me against her chest. "Get some sleep."

I kept screaming. Babies don't normally listen to people.

Then a man came in. My mum remembers him well – spikey hair, brown suit, madcap grin. She has always told me he was a skinny tall man with something about him that was incredibly young and something about him that was incredibly old as well. My mum said it was his eyes that made him look like that. He looked down at me and then up at my mum.

"She's got a lot to say." the man said. "May I…?"

Although cautious about giving her new-born to a man she had never met, my mother was reassured by something about this man. She nodded and he cupped his arms into a cradle. Slowly I was placed into his grasp. The man smiled down at me and soothingly asked me what was wrong. I kept crying.

The man lifted me up, cupping me closer to him. He murmured something softly and gently rocked me to and fro. There was a slight smile on his face as he cared for me. Slowly my screams began to subside. I stared up at him with a look of slight confusion in my green eyes.

"How did you…?" my mother began, wonderstruck by what the man had just done.

The man didn't listen. He was too busy talking quietly to me. His words were reassuring and careful and his arms rocked me back and forth.

"It's okay. Worst things have happened, trust me. Being born is an achievement – you get a certificate and everything." the man assured me.

He looked up at my mother and asked my name. My mother answered that my name was Alexis Samantha Morganson. A look of shock spread across the man's face, flickered and then disappeared. It was replaced with a small smile. He said the name seemed perfect. My mum remembers a sense of pride at that. When everyone else had said how cute I was it didn't matter but there was a sense of serenity in the man's voice.

"How about you go back to your mother now, Alex?" the man said, handing me back to my mother.

My mum took me carefully, worried I was going to start crying again.

Then a bleeping filled the air. The man's eyes lit up with horror and he reached into his pocket. He fished out a slim mobile phone and looked at the message on the screen. He glanced up, looking at my mum and then down at me.

"I need you and Alexis to stay in here." the man told my mother.

My mum shifted, looking from me to the man. She asked what was going on.

"Something bad. Something bad enough to risk the universe being destroyed. Stay in this room and Alexis will be safe." the man promised. "Don't leave this room for any reason, nothing. I will send someone to get you."

He turned to the door and disappeared outside. My mother stayed in bed, holding me close. She watched as the man closed the door and then a blue light and a strange distant whine came from the other side of the door. Weakly my mother shifted me so she held me in one arm. She moved forwards and caught hold of the metal handle to the door. It was cold. Tentatively she twisted the handle down. Somehow the man had managed to lock the door and lock us in.

Looking through the window, she managed to catch a glimpse of the man moving off at a brisk pace. Then she saw a teenager with long curling brown hair race past. The teenager was shouting something about a doctor and grabbed the man's wrist, dragging him off down one of the sterile corridors.


	2. Day 0

Here you go, next chapter. Enjoy. Thanks for reviews, favourites and follows.

My house, Piper's Heart, England, Earth 3/10/2015 Day 0

I should probably fill in the sixteen years and one day I missed. I had a normal childhood in London until the age of nine. It wasn't anything special, nothing worth reading about. When we were nine, my father tried to get back with my mum. She didn't want that so decided to up roots. We moved to a small village on the cliffy Norfolk coast called Piper's Heart. There I spent the rest of my childhood.

Piper's Heart is a normal small village. It has just enough going on to not be counted as boring but you can understand why most of the young people leave for university and then decide to settle in the cities.

It's in my house that we begin the actual story – with the toaster popping. As the toast was thrown into the air, I raced to catch it. I snatched the crisp bread and cast it down on my plate, turning to the fridge in the search for the butter.

My mum slipped into the kitchen, dressed in her fluffy pale blue dressing down. Her long brown hair was set in a loose bun and she offered me a smile.

"Good morning." she said as she took a blue mug from the mug tree that stood near the kettle.

She set the kettle to boil and held the mug, running one of her fingers over the chip in the rim of her cup.

"Morning, mum." I chorused back from where I was searching the fridge.

I began to shift the rhubarb and the lettuce and the eggs and the potatoes and tomatoes and all the other home grown produce that we were always being given. Most of the village had large gardens. They grew a variety of fresh produce and shared it around. Although me and mum didn't grow anything in our garden, my mum child minds for almost anyone in the village who works long hours. She is more than willing to go above and beyond for the kids she looks after, hence the fridge full of gifts.

However, it makes finding the butter a nightmare.

"I've got the Lewis kids coming round this afternoon, Alex." my mum said, speaking loudly to be heard over the bubbling of the water from inside the kettle.

She made her coffee as she talked and told me that she was thinking of playing board games with them if she could find the games we had stashed away in the attic.

"Try near the Christmas stuff." I said, smiling triumphantly to myself as I saw the yellow packaging of the butter.

I managed to manipulate the armful of vegetables I had gathered in my search so one arm was free and reached in to grab the tub.

"I know but I was thinking you, being the wonderful nice person you are, might let them play with the board games you got for your birthday."

She turned to me with a hopeful smile. As you might have worked out, I turned sixteen yesterday. It was a great day, me, my mum and my best friends all crowded in our lounge, playing board games and joking about. The decorations still hung up, proudly proclaiming that someone was turning sixteen.

"Go ahead." I told her, fishing a butter knife out of the draw. "Just make sure they don't break anything."

My mum nodded and promised she would make sure they were careful. My presents were still piled up beside the fireplace. We, like almost everyone else in the village, lived in the tightly packed cottages. They were cosy but also all almost identical. Each had a fireplace, each had three bedrooms upstairs and each had a very similar layout. Me and mum were always using our fireplace, thanks to spare wood from Mr Dodgson. He has a hobby as a carpenter.

Anyway, my presents had not yet made it up the stairs to my bedroom.

"Are you doing anything today? Meeting up with friends or…?" mum asked, trailing off.

I finished buttering both slices of toast and bit down on one, the crunch sounding almost thoughtful as I tried to remember my plans. I shook my head and shot my mum a questioning look to ask why she had asked.

"Well, Ms Dockety was asking if anyone could pop round and help her with her garden. I agreed and completely forgot about the Lewis'. You wouldn't mind going up there, would you?"

I thought about it. Everyone knew about Ms Dockety. She was an elderly lady who had shown up out of nowhere a few years ago. She lived in the old farm house a little way out of Piper's Heart and was always taking in lodgers who stayed with her for a short time before moving off to travel or live with relatives or something. Her last lodger had left recently and everyone worried that she got lonely when she had no one to share her house with.

"Yeah, mum. I'll do it." I said.

My mum smiled and thanked me. She came forwards, her cup of coffee cupped in her hands. Gently, she kissed my forehead, thanked me once more and then hurried off to go and get ready.

.

Piper's Heart, England, Earth 3/10/2015 Day 0

I rode along with a smile. October is a great time of year. Not only does it begin with my birthday but it is the point where the leaves on the trees are caught between summer and autumn. They haven't quite reached the completely dead browns that come with autumn but they aren't quite the perfect greens of summer. It is also never too hot so cycling through the village and along the quiet country road was a pleasure.

"Hello, Alexis." a few of my neighbours called as I cycled past their cottages.

I waved to them. I had got presents from quite a few of them and the ones who hadn't directly given me a present had giving mum the stuff to make the cake or some money to put towards buying me a gift.

As I passed out of the village of neat cottages, I found myself on the road.

There's a single road running in and out of Piper's Heart. It's always in perfect condition because we all make it our business to fill in the potholes and clear the road if something is blocking it. It runs between two fields with two small green banks separating the track from the farms on either side of it. Due to the recent harvests, the fields were bare. A handful of crows were picking through the dirt for any seeds or bits of crop that had been left behind. They crowed loudly to each other and hoped around with small bursts of flapping wings. I watched it with a smile.

Then, off in the distance, at the far end of the field, I saw a fleck of blue. The fields are long around Piper's Heart and it meant the blue patch was hard to see. I pulled over, resting one foot against the bank on that side.

The blue fleck looked like it was some sort of very small building, roughly the size of a portable toilet. I wasn't sure but I assumed the Williams, who owned the field, might have hired it for their farm hands and were waiting for it to be collected. Smiling to myself, I continued on.

.

Markson Farm, Piper's Heart, England, Earth, 3/10/2015 Day 0

Ms Dockety's farm house was not like the cottages that the rest of Piper's Heart lived in. It was large and old. It was easily bigger than my house and had five bedrooms (four upstairs and one downstairs. Ms Dockety used the downstairs). A gravel road led up to the concrete forecourt of the farm house and a barn was a short distance away. There was a second barn set on the other side of the field directly behind the house. This one was older than the first. I know this because I helped build the one closest the house and the younger kids had been sent off to the second barn to play.

I rested my bike near the side of the barn and walked over the concrete court. Giving the wooden door three knocks, I waited for Ms Dockety.

She answered quickly and offered me a smile. Ms Dockety looked some sort of fairy tale grandma but I don't actually know if she ever had children or grandchildren. She said she was married once but I am not sure what happened to her husband, if he actually existed at all. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Ms Dockety was a tall woman who held herself with a straight back. Her silvering hair was allowed to roll loosely down her back and her face had some sharpness in the features that you did not expect. There were faint laughter lines dancing down her cheeks and a content smile seemed to always rest on her lips.

"Hello, Alexis, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

I explained what had happened. Ms Dockety nodded and smiled compassionately. She told me that my mother did do so much for the village and that a slip in memory was completely acceptable.

"You'd better come in then, Alexis." Ms Dockety said, smiling.

.

Ms Dockety didn't have an actual garden. What my mother had referred to when she said her garden was actually her greenhouse. The greenhouse always seemed to be extremely warm and Ms Dockety enjoyed sitting in it and watching the plants no end. She had a variety of plants, mostly flowers, that lined shelves in the greenhouse. The shelves were set on metal supports but you couldn't see the metal as each support had a climber or a vine wrapping itself around it and hiding it away. As I walked in I slipped out of my jacket and hung it up on the hook.

"How are you holding up?" I asked as I took in the green house.

Ms Dockety paused. She looked at me with a small smile. From what I could see, she always seemed to act younger when she didn't have a lodger staying. However, I was never sure whether having a lodger aged her or whether she felt able to act older when she had a lodger about and when she didn't she had to act younger so she felt useful.

"I'm fine. Rueben was a nice young man but you know how it is, they get bored, want to see the world. It doesn't matter. I've still got the village."

Rueben had been her most recent lodger. He was a nice young man. He had been to university and had done a course in agriculture. He had intended to help on the farms for a year or so then return to university to get a master's degree or something. He had come to the summer festival we had had and helped run a stall.

"So, what needs doing?" Ms Dockety mused.

She looked around the greenhouse in an attempt to cement her change of subject. I allowed her to get away with it and looked at her, pressing for information on what I was meant to do.

"I need some fertiliser put on the plants need the back and a few of the pots have weeds in so if you could just take them out then…"

I nodded and accepted the trowel I was offered. Then, moving forwards, I got to work.

.

I had been helping for about two hours when I started needing to go. My hands were dirty with soil from working with the plants and I felt as if I had done some good work. I asked Ms Dockety where the toilet was as I got to my feet. She shifted for a moment and seemed to have to think about it.

"Upstairs and the door on the end of the corridor." she told me.

I nodded and brushed my hands against my jeans to try and get off as much mud as possible.

"I'll just be a minute." I promised.

Then I darted off.

.

I disappeared into the house and went up the stairs. Slowly I looked down the corridor. There were two doors on each side of the corridor and one at the end. I smiled and began to walk down to the bathroom. I stopped at the first door in the corridor and swung it open slowly. It was one of the spare rooms. Sighing and bored of it, I pulled the door closed. I moved onto the next one and opened it.

That room was shocking. It was a room that was clearly being used. The bed had been neatly made up and suitcases were tucked underneath it. A photo rested on the bedside cabinet and one of the draws was open, clothes still inside. I slipped into the room, checking around.

It didn't look like the room had been used too recently. I moved towards the bedside cabinet and picked up the framed photograph. The photo showed two people and I recognised one of them instantly. It was a young man with brown hair and green eyes. A layer of stubble pooled over his jaw and he smiled out at me.

It was Reuben. His photo, his things.

The shock gripped me. Reuben wouldn't have gone travelling and left all his things behind. Which meant he hadn't gone travelling at all.

I began to shake, wildly. Something was very wrong and I had the feeling that Ms Dockety was behind it. I knew I should probably get out. However, I felt like I should stay. I needed to see what was going on. If anything did happen, I was a sporty teenaged girl, Ms Dockety was an elderly woman. I could outrun her and fight her off if it came to it.

The first thing that crossed my mind was to not let Ms Dockety know I knew something was up. I grabbed the photo and saw that my mud covered hands had left fingerprints on the frame. I rapidly cleaned them off on my jacket and then hurried out of the room, darting towards the toilet so I had a cover story.

.

When I left the toilet, I saw Ms Dockety was standing at the stairs. She scanned me and then looked at the doors down the corridor. My heart stopped. I had left the door to Reuben's room open. She was going to know I had been in there. Her eyes stopped over the door and then snapped onto me.

I shifted, pretending to be unaware of what was going on.

"You took a while, Alexis." she said with a false smile.

I nodded, looking embarrassed. Then Ms Dockety smiled. She moved out of the way and said we only had a few more jobs to do.

.

There was something awkward in the air as we worked. Both of us knew the other was hiding something. I knew we were both trending carefully, trying to work out what was going on. I felt as if we were two predators readying, circling each other. At least that was what I kept thinking. However, I was getting the distinct feeling I was more prey than predator.

"Would you care for a drink?" Ms Dockety asked, putting down her trowel.

I thought for a moment and then asked for water.

"Are you sure?" Ms Dockety pressed. "I have tea, coffee, hot chocolate…"

"Water will be fine." I told her.

Almost annoyed with my answer, Ms Dockety hurried off. I smiled, fishing my phone out of my pocket. I considering going up to take photos of the room so I had proof. However, I knew I would have to go through the kitchen and therefore Ms Dockety would see me. I decided that I would try and come back the next day.

When Ms Dockety came back in, I took my drink of water.

"I'm going to need to go back soon. I promised mum I would be home in time for lunch."

I paused and smiled.

"But if you need me to come back tomorrow, any more jobs, I'll be free." I said, trying to sound genuine.

If I could get back in, I would be able to investigate. Ms Dockety seemed to have plans of her own and smiled. She told me that she needed some help cleaning out her attic.

"Yeah. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon."

"Well, if you're free in the morning…" Ms Dockety began.

She promised to put on lunch and I smiled. I nodded. If I had the whole day to try and solve what was going on, I could make lots of progress. We made our agreement and then I hurried out to go home.

.

My house, Piper's Heart, England, Earth, 3/10/2015 Day 0

I got back in time for lunch. The three Lewis kids were sitting around the table. My mum was cutting their sandwiches into squares.

"Alex!" the Lewis children, Andy, Roger and Claire, chorused.

The oldest was nine and the youngest was four. They looked very similar, all with blue eyes and shocks of blonde hair. I smiled at each of them.

"Hey." I said, walking in.

My mum smiled and me and asked me how Ms Dockety was.

"She was good." I answered.

I walked over to the table, snatching the family laptop from the side. I opened it up and began to go on the internet. I began to search through the pages, searching for Reuben. I could remember his last name: Cross.

I searched his social media pages, the pages of his friends to see if he had appeared at any point. He didn't. He had completely disappeared off the map. I found his email address and sent him a message, asking him where he was and how he was. I couldn't find him. It only confirmed my suspicions.

Something had happened to Reuben Cross and Ms Dockety was behind it.


End file.
